IHG Status Challenge: Last Call Get Free Platinum Status & Diamond in 15 Nights

You have seven days left to register for the IHG status challenge. With this offer, you get free Platinum Elite Status and can fast track to IGH Diamond status after 15 nights. Sounds like a great offer, right? Let’s take a look to see if it’s worth it.

IHG Status Challenge

If you’re planning to stay at any of the hotels in the IHG Hotels & Resorts collection, you may want to consider participating in the IHG status challenge.

You can register for the IHG status challenge through July 31, 2022.

Once registered, your IHG Rewards One account will automatically be upgraded to Platinum status for free. You can fast-track your way to Diamond status.

When you stay five nights within 120 days of registration, you keep your Platinum status through December 2023.

You’ll earn Diamond status through December 2023 after staying a total of 15 nights within 120 days of registration.

This means your just over two week summer vacation or trip over the holidays can get you top tier status with IHG.

Pro-tip: Unless you have stays planned this week, wait until July 31st to register. This gives you until November 29, 2022, to keep your status through December 2023.

How to Enroll in the IHG Status Challenge

Enrolling in the IHG status challenge is a simple two-step process:

You have to be an IHG One Rewards member for this offer. You can join IHG One Rewards when you register for the challenge by choosing the orange “Join & Register” button.

Pro-tip: For this challenge, you don’t have to have elite status in another hotel program.

IHG Platinum & Diamond Status

As a Platinum member of the IHG loyalty program, some of the many perks you can enjoy are free upgrades, discounted hotel room rates, and late check-out.

Normally you have to stay 40 nights or earn 60,000 qualifying base points in a calendar year to earn Platinum status. But with this challenge, you get Platinum status automatically for 120 days.

When you stay 5 nights within 120 days of registering, you’ll keep your IHG Platinum status through December 2023.

When you have Diamond status you get all the same perks of Platinum plus extras like free breakfast and a dedicated Diamond support phone number.

Usually, you have to stay 70 nights or earn 120,000 points in a calendar year to earn Diamond status. But if you stay a total of 15 nights within 120 days after you register for the challenge, you get Diamond status through December 2023.

Pro-tip: You can get free IHG Platinum status from the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card.

You can earn Diamond status when you spend $40,000 a year on the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card or IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card.

What Counts as a Qualifying Stay

For this challenge, a qualifying stay can be as short as one night. But free night awards don’t count towards qualifying nights under this offer. You have to pay a cash rate of $30 or more per night before taxes.

You can book your stay on the IHG website, by phone, or with a travel agent.

Bookings made through OTA (Online Travel Agencies) like Expedia and Booking.com aren’t considered qualifying stays.

Pro-tip: Hotel stays in Greater China don’t qualify for this offer.

Is the IHG One Rewards Status Challenge Worth It

A fast track to status is always enticing. After all, who doesn’t like free hotel upgrades and free breakfast? The IHG One Rewards status challenge is worth it if you plan to stay at IHG hotels this year and next year.

If you travel frequently or travel for business, the status challenge may be worth it. Especially if you visit areas where there are lots of IHG hotels.

But if you’re like most people and have a limited number of nights you can spend in hotels and need those nights to earn another elite hotel status like World of Hyatt Globalist then it might not make sense to do the challenge.

Instead, you can get IHG Platinum status from the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card and IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. If you spend $40,000 in a calendar year on one of those cards, you’ll get Diamond status.

Pro-tip: If you already have plans to stay at IHG and don’t currently have Platinum or Diamond status or one of the credit cards, then you should do the challenge. Otherwise, you’re wasting a free opportunity.

Once you have status, you can use your points for free stays to earn milestone rewards such as club lounge access and suite upgrades.

Conclusion

You can get free Platinum status with IHG One Rewards and fast track to Diamond status with their status challenge.

Once registered, you’ll receive Platinum status for 120 days. When you stay five nights within 120 days after registration, you’ll keep your status through December 2023.

When you stay a total of 15 nights within 120 days after registering for the IHG status challenge, you’ll earn Diamond status through December 2023.

Have you registered for the IHG status challenge?